The Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord, was a far-right survivalist anti government militia which advocated Christian Identity and was active in the United States during the 1970s and early 1980s. The CSA developed from a Baptist congregation, the Zarephath-Horeb Community Church, which was founded in 1971 in Pontiac, Missouri. Over time, Zarephath-Horeb evolved into an extremist militant group and it was rechristened the CSA. The group operated at a large compound in northern Arkansas which was known as "the Farm".

In June 1982, the CSA had an estimated 90 to 120 members, men, women, and children. In April 1984, the number of members was less than 70.

The CSA believed that doomsday was imminent, and a 224-acre compound in Elijah, Missouri that it acquired from Campus Crusade became a community for its members. There it trained its members in paramilitary operations.
The group believed in white supremacy and was also anti-Semitic. Like other prominent antiSemitic groups that believed in antisemitic tropes, it called the United States government ZOG, short for Zionist Occupied Government.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) later determined that the CSA had obtained 155 Krugerrands, one live light antitank rocket, 94 long guns, 30 handguns, 35 sawed-off shotguns, and machine guns, one heavy machine gun, and a quantity of C-4 explosives. The CSA and its paramilitary arm taught basic pistol and rifle use as well as personal home defense, rural and urban warfare, weapons proficiency, general military fieldcraft, Christian martial arts, and natural wilderness survival. According to a report which was published by the California Department of Justice, the Pagans Motorcycle Club provided the CSA with training in booby trap devices and survival techniques in return for weapons and ammunition.

Beginning on 19 April 1985, the FBI and the ATF, led by the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team (HRT), positioned around 300 federal agents in Elijah. The operation needed to be kept secret, but doing so was not easy in the small community.